2013 Week 10: Winter Getaway

We left for our planned getaway Sunday after church and stopped at Bob Evans in Warsaw for lunch with Mother and a last visit with brother and SIL before they flew back to Argentina.

Throughout this post I will give sufficient clues and let you guess where we went.
We drove through a big city...

...and arrived at our destination by evening.

Monday we set out to visit Mike's 94 year-old aunt two hours away. When she finally understood on the phone who we were, she was delighted.
She may be hard of hearing and unable to see clearly (macular degeneration), somewhat unsteady on her feet, but her mind and mouth do not stop for a minute.

The whole while I was taking notes and learning interesting family history. I often wish I'd begun that habit many years ago.
We took her out to eat to a nearby favorite eatery where she likes to order chili and chocolate ice cream.

I think she is a fascinating person.

Every evening we tried out a different indoor waterpark and ventured on some of their fun features: the great wave; hot tub; a few tube rides. Gotta do this stuff while we're still young (smile).

Tuesday a big snowfall was expected. We had a four-wheel-drive vehicle so we went out anyway to a nearby outlet mall and shared a colorful delicious nachos lunch. I think that was our only meal out during the five days as we had a complete kitchen at the resort.

Wednesday we visited a cheese factory, watched a video about the whole operation and stocked up on our favorites (cheese curds that squeak when they're fresh) and a bunch of new varieties to try.

I tried to get some photos of the country side as we were driving by. Mike jokes (or is he serious?) about the landscape in this area being nigh unto heavenly.

Are you any closer to knowing where we were? It is famous for its rock formations.

We greatly enjoyed our Thursday visitors--Mike's brother Terry and wife Sandy. They live only an hour and a half away. Mike had made a big pot of chili and I made a salad.

They love being involved in several volunteer endeavors. When we said our goodbyes, instead of saying, "Take care" or "Don't work too hard", I said "Don't volunteer so much." I didn't really mean that. Do your sentiments ever come out the wrong way?

Friday we said goodbye to our five-day haven and headed home.

After the intense robotics season, it was good to have those days to relax and be together.

And now it is good to be home where I look out the window and see birds, black squirrels, and deer.

Tomorrow, however, I leave again for three days. My 98 year-old aunt died this week. My brother and mother and I will travel together to Tennessee.
Mike leaves for Canada on Tuesday to team up with son Stephan in the Long John Jamboree ice carving competition in Yellowknife, NWT.